“Woe to him…who says, ‘I will build myself a spacious house with large upper rooms.’” – Jeremiah 22:13-14
“I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’” – Jeremiah 22:21
My first inclination in reading the prophet Jeremiah’s words is to get defensive. Surely he’s not talking about me. Surely judgment is not coming on me for building a lavish mansion and enjoying my prosperity. This must be for all those people who have WAY more money than me. I don’t have enough for a house with “large upper rooms” and cedar-paneled windows. I’m not really that prosperous – my car is a piece of junk and my television is too small to watch hockey on – and I don’t even have DVR!
But Jeremiah is talking about me. He is talking about my lavish lifestyle. It may not be lavish compared to a lot of people, or compared to the “American dream” way of life, but it is certainly a dreamy, prosperous life. I have all my basic needs provided, more clothes than I need, I can go to restaurants and eat like a king, and I get to travel to see friends in Atlanta and my grandmother in Florida. I am living the very life Jeremiah prophesies against.
Sometimes I wish passages like this were left out of the Bible. You know the ones I’m talking about: the ones that convict us. The ones that make us realize we’re not as awesome as we think we are, that we’re not really living the way God wants us to live.
So today, Jeremiah’s words will be pestering me all day. They’ll keep reminding me that I live a life of extravagance, and maybe that’s not such a good thing. They’ll remind me of how ridiculously blessed I am – how when it comes down to it, I have it all. These words will continue to convict me and call me to re-examine my level of prosperity, and they will remind me of all those who have never lived a day of prosperity, let alone the 26 years I’ve been fortunate to live. Today, Jeremiah speaks to me in my prosperity, and I must listen.
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